Christine Valters Paintner is the online abbess at the Abbey of the Arts, a virtual global monastery without walls, offering retreats, classes, books, and resources to nurture contemplative practice and creative expression. A writer, artist, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and teacher, she earned her PhD in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley and is a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE). Paintner is author of The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. She and her husband, John, live on the west coast of Ireland, where together they shepherd Abbey of the Arts and lead pilgrimages. Kreg Yingst is an illustrator with a focus on block printing, with original works created from carved blocks of wood, linoleum, or other materials, and printed onto paper or other media. He received his BA from Trinity University in San Antonio and his MA in painting from Eastern Illinois University. His work can be found in numerous international public and private collections, including Purdue University, Indiana and the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, South Carolina. He lives in Pensacola, Florida.
